I’m psyched about going to my first Philly Trans Health Conference with my mom this weekend.
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I visited 2113 a few weeks ago because I was biking to Tobacco Row and wanted to eat somewhere in that vicinity. I had heard a little buzz about the place and I like to patronize new ventures so I gave them a try. It was 3pm and totally empty, but I’m pretty sure this place is more of a nighttime scene.
The interior is very bright and modern looking but it’s almost a bit too much. Kind of like the interior of Sweetfrog, a bit too saturated and extremely IKEA. I know some people love that look, and I think I did in my early 20s, but at 30 now I find it a little off-putting. And maybe that’s the point - maybe they only want people younger than me. That said, I’m sure there are women in their 50s who adore this look.
I liked the little jokes on the menu, and the selection didn’t seem bad. I got the Shrimp Penne as an entree because I was pretty hungry. The waitress was pleasant and correctly gendered me the entire time. I was a little disappointed at the plate though… it seems that their chef prefers to leave the tails on the shrimp. Now when the shrimp are meant to be picked up and eaten, I understand this completely. But I really don’t understand why someone would leave the tails on the shrimp when it is submerged in Alfredo sauce. That means I have to fish out the shrimp one by one and cut the tails off with my knife, and then since I can’t stab them effectively with the fork, I have to stick my fingers in the sauce to remove the tails and set them aside. While executing this, I took a short break to Google why people leave the tails on. Surely, I am just not sophisticated enough to appreciate the chef leaving the tails on for some reason. The results I got back on my phone seemed to indicate possible reasons being that it preserves the moisture of the flesh, and that there’s meat in the tail and some people eat them. But the consensus seemed to be that if the shrimp are submerged in sauce, the tails should not be left on. I have to agree. I would have preferred simply being able to eat them without having to do any of my own prep work.
Besides that, the food was fine, but that’s all really. The pasta was as simple as it could have been: penne pasta with Alfredo sauce and shrimp with tails on. No side dishes, no spices to break up the visual monotony of the presentation besides some light pepper. A simple improvement would have been to place the shrimp on top of the sauce, so that they are easily accessible to remove the tails and the color of the shrimp would contrast with the otherwise boring white blanket on the plate. I guess it’s old fashioned, but I would have appreciated a few spears of steamed broccoli or a piece of garlic bread. Something. I was just bored.
I ate about half of it, and then decided to save room for dessert so that I would get to taste at least one other flavor before leaving. So I ordered the Chocolate Pots de Creme. I have never had Pots de Creme before, so I’m not exactly sure what the density and texture are supposed to be like. It had a moderate chocolate flavor with a grainy texture and a very low density. It was tasty but I think I prefer a smooth Creme Brulee texture.
Overall, I found it to be only average for the food. I may be missing the point of this place, which is probably meant more to be a night club with loud music, drinking, and lots of people late at night.
Bathrooms: Men and Women, single user locking facilities. Lichtenstein style pop art prints and chrome detailing, very well decorated.
Now all you have to do is get ONE signature, not surgery
Virginia embraces a SIMPLE mechanism for changing one’s gender marker on a driver’s license !
As of April 25, 2012, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) implemented a new, and much simpler, policy for changing one’s gender marker on a VA driver’s license. Individuals can now use the Gender Change Request form, known as DL-17, which requires only a signature from a licensed provider, including a doctor, psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, social worker, or counselor attesting to the fact that the applicant is a patient of the provider and that the applicant’s “gender identity” is either female or male and “can reasonably be expected to continue as such for the foreseeable future.” The form does not require proof of surgery or even proof that the applicant is engaged in hormone therapy. Link to form: http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/dl17.pdf
Until now, the VA DMV policy required proof of sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) evidenced by a letter from a surgeon or a court order recognizing a gender change. In most states, such a court order depends on proof of SRS. This requirement made it very difficult for many individuals to obtain a VA identification card accurately reflecting their gender.
If you ever wondered how people look at you when you’re ambiguously gendered, here’s a great video example. Incidentally, this is also a video of The Trillions playing at Plan 9 on Record Store Day 2012. But yeah, about halfway through, a kid in a red-necked ringer shirt walks across the frame, has some kind of nonverbal communication with a friend on the right who signals something by touching his glasses frames, and then the ringer shirt does a TOTALLY UNSUBTLE “look to the right of subject of interest, look to the left of subject of interest, do a head-to-toe sweep of subject of interest quickly and then turn back around” maneuver. With a mildly amused expression the entire time. I get this moderately often in public, but this is exactly what it looks like.
And if you don’t already follow atransguyinrichmond.tumblr.com, that one probably sees the most action.
RVA Street Art Festival 2012: Saturday 4-14-2012 - Me and Kontra (friend and fellow blogger, check him out here: kromatic.org) rode bikes in and checked out the festival. It was pretty busy around 2:30 when we were taking pics. Nice to see the quirky vendors they had out there, I was a fan of the mini-terrariums and the faux-antler mounts. I shot a decent video that features a lot of the vendors, that’ll be posted later. Later, we rode bikes up to Monroe Park to check out the VCU Seven Wonders of the World Intercultural Festival - separate post on that to come.
After another day volunteering for the G40 around the 100 block of Broad, I left the Metro Gallery and went by Popkin Tavern for dinner. I had shared a sandwich with my mom there once right before going to a play at the Empire Theatre. I wasn’t looking for anything fancy, just some food nearby basically. I went in and sat at the bar.
I ordered the turkey burger with caramelized onions, provolone, and balsamic glaze with a side of tots. Pretty simple. It came out fairly quickly. The banter of the bartenders with the guy next to me was kind of amusing, but even though I chimed in a few times, they neglected to actually engage me in conversation. That was kind of lame, since part of sitting at the bar is getting to talk. Oh well.
Never misgendered me, but never used any gendered language either. Nothing notable really, the food was just fine but nothing remarkable.
Bathrooms: Men, Women. The smell of the bathrooms hits you as soon as you start to descend the stairs, a good 12 ft above the hallway where they are located. It’s an overpowering urinal-cake smell covering a mildewy-water smell. In the Men’s, a couple urinals and a stall.
Change
Bar, show, nightclub, and recreational posts will no longer be posted here - they are now going to A Transguy In Richmond so go follow that blog!
While I was shooting video of Aryz’s finished mural on 17th St, some marketing gals walked by and gave menu flyers for On The Rox to the guys from the No Name No Brain crew, and mentioned they were hiring. Apparently I didn’t look like I was worth feeding or hiring because they walked right past me and didn’t hand me a flyer or say a word. FINE THEN. I was hungry so I pulled one of the flyers off of a parked car. I noticed they had a hanger steak for $18. That caught my eye. I was kind of surprised actually by some of the trendy high-end dishes for lower prices (lamb sausage, pork shoulder, frites, drop biscuits). By the way, On The Rox, you didn’t have a Yelp page yet, so I made one for you. You’re welcome.
Once I was seated, I found out that apparently this place is owned by the Tiki Bob’s people, and that didn’t set my expectations very high. I ordered the braised beef brisket panini with onion marmalade, gorgonzola, and rosemary. It came out with fries and a shot glass of a ketchup/aioli blend. I don’t know much about panini but the bread was crisp and crunchy and a nice contrast to the softer interior.
I included pics of the view with the two garage-door windows open - on a crisp spring day it was really nice to have them open like that. I saved half of the panini and fries for later, and ordered a dessert. They only had two choices - chocolate terrine with cashew brittle or minature waffles with roasted bananas and bacon-maple caramel. They both sounded pretty awesome but I went with the chocolate terrine. Apparently everything is made from scratch, including the cashew brittle, which was DELICOUS. I am not even a cashew fan, but in the brittle context it was delightful. The whipped cream was obviously hand-whipped with vanilla bean. A+++ on the dessert.
I have to say, the food was great for the price, which is not exactly cheap but certainly reasonable (panini plate $11, dessert $6). They are on their A game since they just opened 2 months ago, and I hope they don’t skimp or cut corners for the sake of being “production friendly” in the future.
I was never misgendered, but she simply refrained from using gendered language. She was very polite about answering my questions about the dishes.
Bathrooms: Women, Men. In the Men’s, a urinal and a stall. Clean.
